Agriculture Minister calls for elevation of guidelines to standards in 104th COTED meeting

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Pearnel Charles Jr, has called for an elevation of guidelines to standards for the 19 Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) commodities which were developed for risk assessment for trade products in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The minister made the call during the 104^th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Friday, July 22.

Expressing his support for the approval of the guidelines, Charles Jr said “Jamaica supports this initiative and has no objection to the approval of the guidelines. Barring this, we note that the guidelines are not intended to be standards, but that our main objective as a region has been the removal of sanitary and phytosanitary-related challenges that retard the growth of the sector, in order to increase intraregional trade for selected agricultural commodities.”

“We believe that future considerations should be given to morphing these guidelines into regional standards,” the minister added.

The commodities of focus comprise five animal products (eggs, sheep and goat meat, dairy products, beef and honey) and 14 plant products (banana and plantain, onions and scallions, crucifers [broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, pak choi] and lettuce, cucurbits [cucumber, melons, watermelon, pumpkin, squash, West Indian gherkin], legumes [peas and beans], spices [ginger and turmeric], solanaceous products [tomato, pepper, eggplant], taro [dasheen] and eddo, yam, cassava, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, pineapple, and corn.

These products were identified as priority because they are critical to achieving food and nutrition security based on the CARICOM Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Action Plan. They are generally available for intra-regional trade; and they have high market value and import substitution potential.

The guidelines developed for each product focus primarily on parts of the commodities intended for consumption with considerations for possible non-intended uses of same.

Meanwhile, the minister also endorsed policy measures targeted to remove non-tariff barriers in CARICOM and to facilitate intraregional trade in agriculture.

This, the Agriculture and Fisheries Minister said, will help to facilitate greater organisation and unity in the region.

He added that it is necessary that these policy measures be brought to the implementation stage without delay.

A non-tariff barrier is a trade restriction such as a quota, embargo or sanction. Some countries, like Barbados, and the OECS nations still maintain such measures, however, Jamaica and other nations have removed non-tariff barriers on imports from CARICOM countries.

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